A couple stole 23 boxes of Rogaine and other items from area pharmacies and stores, police said.

Christopher McElroy, 40, P.O. Box 7172, Garden City, N.Y., and Kelly Bruckner, 29, 26 Salem Road, Hicksville, N.J., were seen stealing $212 worth of the hair restoration cream from the Davis Street CVS in Scranton just before 4 p.m. They tried picking off the anti-theft stickers, but the alarm sounded when they walked out of the store. Though they were unable to stop them, store employees took the car's Texas license plate number.

Shift supervisor Mark Maguire told Patrolman James Golden that three other CVS stores in the city experienced similar thefts. The couple Patrolman Golden saw walk out of the store matched the description of suspects seen on security cameras at the South Main Avenue location, the Green Ridge Street location and the Moosic Street location. The thieves made off with an additional $333.96 in Rogaine and $55.99 in Crest White Strips.

Patrolman Golden put out an alert and two hours later, Officer Tony Percival of the South Abington Twp. Police Department pulled them over. Mr. McElroy sat in the back seat and Ms. Bruckner in the front passenger seat. Two packs of Rogaine in the back seat caught the officer's eye.

Police received consent to search the car from the driver, Cynthia Harris, 55, 32 Mistletoe Lane, Levittown, N.Y., and found 23 packs of Rogaine as well as various medications, supplements and clothing with T.J. Maxx tags stuffed in black garbage bags in the back seat and the trunk.

Ms. Harris, who drove Ms. Bruckner from New York and picked up Mr. McElroy in Pike County, told police the couple asked her to drive them from CVS to CVS to pick up a MoneyGram. However, the service was not working at any of the locations they went to, they told her. At one point, she saw a pack of Rogaine fall on the floor of the car and asked what it was for. They shrugged off the question and aroused her suspicion, but she drove to the next CVS anyway, police said.

Mr. McElroy and Ms. Bruckner are charged with four counts of felony retail theft, felony conspiracy and misdemeanor receiving stolen property. Ms. Harris is charged with felony conspiracy for aiding the thefts and misdemeanor receiving stolen property. Bail and preliminary hearing information was not available.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter

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